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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chip — to eat
  9. fall — the season
  10. land — a country
  11. land — to come down
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cold — not warm
  14. perch — the fish
  15. land — ground
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — to shout
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. chip — for betting
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. rock — music
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. rock — a stone

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com